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In December 2020, as daily nationwide death tolls from COVID-19 reached new peaks, social media users shared a photograph that appeared to provide a stark illustration of the emotional devastation wrought by the virus. On Dec. 3, Arkansas family care doctor Ken Starnes posted a photograph that showed a room full of iPads attached to tripods. He described it in the following way: Starnes' tweet was shared tens of thousands of times on Twitter and further promoted on Facebook. Since the beginning of the pandemic, healthcare professionals across the country have documented the use of video conferencing technology to allow COVID-19 patients to speak to their loved ones, who are typically barred from in-person visits due to hospital policies. In cases where a patient's condition is worsening, many have ultimately said their final goodbyes to loved ones through the medium of Zoom, Skype or FaceTime calls. As CNN reported on Dec. 6: As a result, Starnes' description of the viral photograph he posted appears eminently plausible, and we have found no specific evidence, and no background information, to suggest that he misrepresented what the photograph showed, or that someone else misrepresented its content to him. However, we have been unable to verify its authenticity, nor corroborate the accuracy of his descriptions. Snopes sent Starnes a list of questions designed to help us verify the authenticity and provenance of the photograph, and to investigate whether his description of it was accurate. We did not receive a response. If we receive evidence that corroborates or undermines Starnes' claims, we will update this fact check accordingly.
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